Chief Minister Badal told media on Tuesday that the state government will give a statement on the SYL issue on the floor of the house.

Badal had said last week that Punjab “did not have a single drop of water to spare from its rivers and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) would ensure that there is no compromise on the inalienable rights of the state under the Riparian principle”.

The Supreme Court had accepted the petition filed by the Haryana government for early hearing on the issue of the SYL canal, on which Presidential Reference was pending. The matter will come up for hearing before the apex court on Tuesday.

Both Punjab and Haryana have been locked in a bitter war of words over sharing of river waters. The apex court is taking up the matter when Punjab is just about one year from assembly polls which are to be held in February next year and political parties have taken a stand on the issue.

The Congress government in Punjab had, in 2004, scrapped the water sharing agreements with neighbouring states and had refused to give any water to other states, especially Haryana.

The Presidential Reference was sought after the Punjab Assembly unilaterally passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004, categorically stating that it was nullifying all agreements on water sharing and that no more water would be given to Haryana.

The SYL Canal, that was planned and major portions of it were even completed in the 1990s at a cost of over Rs.750 crore at that time, is entangled in a political and legal quagmire with Punjab and Haryana states unwilling to give up their respective stand on the controversial canal issue and sharing of river waters.